Deadly Deeds
by Tempy
Summary: What did Brennan do in the past? Who were the gunmen? Why were they after Brennan?sequel fo rthe What Once Was Left Behind.Tells about Brennan's past but also about the happenings after the brutal incident at the Jeffersonian
1. Before and After

**This is the sequel for the story What Once Was Left Behind.**

**Summary: **

_**What really went down at the Jeffersonian? Who were the gunmen? Why were they after Brennan? And what did she do that was kept so under the covers? **_

**The story follows what happened to Brennan in her past but it also follows what happened after the brutal incident at the Jeffersonian and after she got out of the hospital. **

**Link to the cover art of this story (and the other story) can be found from my Bio.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of the TV-show Bones. I only own the characters that I made up.**

**I hope you enjoy this story as much as you enjoyed the previous one, and perhaps even more. **

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Deadly Deeds

**Past:**

Temperance Brennan lied on the sand feeling its soft kiss against her head. She shadowed her face with a file that she was holding. The sun was shining and the sky was clear; typical weather for the desert. Sweat made Brennan's skin sparkle in the sun like the sand. Her breathing was heavy from the hot weather and she thanked herself from bringing plenty of water with her. Suddenly something blocked the sun and Temperance laid down her file. She was now in the shadow of a man who was grinning at her. "Finally taking a break doctor?" Brennan raised her upper body and leaned against her elbows. "Yeah, I do know I am a human and I possess human functions such as need for rest and nutrition." The man, Jasiri Wyatt, let out a chuckle. "You sure do." He sat down on the sand next to her. Brennan took a sip from her bottle of water and rose to sit properly. "Should probably continue again." She muttered staring at the sandy field of her work. A slight wind blew in the desert and it eased up the effects of the intense heat. Jasiri sat by silently not commenting on her job which was logical for he wasn't exactly even sure what she was there for.

It was the policy. No one knew more than they had to. Brennan hadn't even gotten to the actual work that she was there for yet. She was still in some sort of training or observation. She had been running around the desert for the whole morning. It was now afternoon and it was time to move into lighter work for the temperature was in the highest during noon. "Well, it certainly seems that the others are on the move." Jasiri said as he peered to the horizon where few men were walking on the dune nearby. He threw a gun to Brennan; "Here ya go." Brennan caught it and threw it on her shoulder as they both stood up from the sand. Brennan was wearing military clothes. The dark uniform didn't make it easier to stand the heat but the orders were to wear the uniform. In her opinion it wasn't practical and that they should have worn something more sandy colour since they were in the desert. The military camouflage is designed to imitate leaf patterns not the sand.

Brennan and Jasiri headed towards the camp that was working as a headquarters. Their steps raised the sand to the air creating a cloud around them that the wind soon blew away. Brennan was uncomfortable even thinking how hot it would have been without the wind. Soon the sandy ground turned into more firm soil as they entered the semi-desert area. The headquarters was located on a more savannah-like area nearby the actual desert area. Tiny, dry bushes decorated the semi-desert. It made Brennan wonder why did the nature still bother to try and support such plants in a place where it was hard for even smaller plants than bushes to grow. She walked on the hard, reddish, dusty ground heeling Jasiri. Not long till they saw the first, small shelter tents of the headquarters.

**Present:**

Seeley Booth was walking along the crowded and noisy corridors of the courthouse. People bristled on the corridors and he got pushed and nudged more than just once. He was starting to get a sore arm from it all. People were yelling, children crying, attorneys were talking to their clients, people were called by name for court halls, some were just sitting silently looking apathetic which was okay to Booth for they weren't the ones causing him a sore arm. He did feel sorry for them, but now he was just too busy to tangle into such things. He was trying to make his way to a court trial where he wanted to be to see the justice served and the guy who he had recently arrested get jail time_. Why won't they make the corridors bigger?_ Booth thought as he got the seventh nudge of the day from some attorney who was in a hurry.

Suddenly Booth noticed something that made the whole nudging and pushing situation fade away from his mind. He saw Dr Temperance Brennan trying to make her way towards Booth and the exit. The people she was accompanied with seemed eager to get out too. There was a muscular man with a dark suit that was decorated with military honour medals. He was talking to Brennan with a serious look on his face. He ran his fingers through his short-cut, dark hair looking slightly frustrated with something. Brennan didn't seem to care about what ever he was trying to get through to her which wasn't a surprise to Booth; she often did that, she ignored stuff that usually was either for her own good or got between her and her work. Booth saw more people heeling the military guy and Brennan. They were men in dark suits and it was hard to tell were they lawyers or just normal people. Booth didn't wait for long to get the answer to who the men were as he saw Jason Hawk walking along them. Hawk was a rather high level CIA agent and Booth also recognized an older guy who Jason was talking to. The older guy was Daniel Moskoff who Booth knew from his military times. _So, not lawyers but the CIA?_ Booth couldn't decide which was more ominous; a pack of lawyers or a pack of CIA agents. _Oh, CIA...They are the big guns._ He then decided even though, his thoughts of comparing CIA with lawyers was just joking. One thing he knew was that something big was going on and that thought wasn't just his mind shooting jokes.

Moskoff was a tall, muscular man with already slightly greyish hair and moustaches even though he wasn't even forty yet. Moskoff had been some sort of celebrity at the military and Booth had heard of him often. He was the best military general there was and he was the toughest trainer too, training people only for the serious military operations. Booth had heard he was the one who trained CIA agents and the military crews that participated to CIA operations. It was the mysterious and dangerous high-level top secret- stuff that Booth had heard often about but never really gotten into such. Booth saw Moskoff then rush closer to Brennan also saying something to her and she seemed to completely dismiss him. Moskoff grabbed Brennan's shoulder and they all stopped. She was staring at Moskoff with unhappy look as he was working hard explaining stuff to her. His speech was interrupted by a blonde woman who rushed to them with serious look on her face. She had a briefcase and she handed Moskoff and the other military guy couple of files. _She must be a lawyer_. Booth frowned. He had stopped to follow the happenings but now he glanced at his clock that was telling he was late from the court.

Temperance listened to Lauren Farrar, the CIA lawyer explain something about all the paper work to general Dan Moskoff and Harvey Black. Harvey's green eyes were glued to the papers in the file he had gotten. Brennan never understood his patience and interest towards legal documents. Daniel however just scrolled the file placing it carelessly under his arm. "Anyways, Dr Brennan as I already said; I think you'd be better off in witness protection." He said to Brennan with worried frown decorating his slightly tanned face. Temperance folded her arms on her chest fighting against the eye rolling she felt like doing and put on a determinate look. She had just been in trial for the encountering with her past that had taken place three weeks ago at the Jeffersonian. It had become a violent and bloody incident that lead to Brennan killing four people and getting her self almost killed too. Actually, she had died, but she had been literally socked back to life. In the trial she had been in the position of the defended. As the CIA lawyer had anticipated the court had quickly agreed with the statement that it had been necessary for Brennan to do as she had done. The CIA's support had been strong and it had helped the trial a lot. "Yes, I know you think so. But I don't think it would do any good in longer or even in short term. I don't see the point and I have better things to do than hiding in some cabin with a false identity." Brennan said with slightly snotty tone. "Now, I am not needed in here anymore so excuse me." She nodded and continued her walk towards the entrance door.

Brennan made her way through the crowd leaving slightly confused agents and military personnel behind. When she had been surrounded by people with honour medals on their suits it had been notably easier to get around as the people had immediately stepped out of their way. Now she was getting pushed and nudged all over. _Do I need a god damn uniform with medals to get around? _ She tried to watch where she placed her steps but then she almost run into someone. She raised her look and in her amazement she saw Booth's surprised face right in front of her. "Booth! Hi!" Brennan stammered taking a step back. She hadn't talked much to Booth since the incident at the Jeffersonian and the day she had waken up at the hospital. Brennan didn't know exactly why, but she felt awkward. She had not explained to Booth what had really gone down with the gunmen; after getting out of the hospital she had been busy with CIA and the military. The legal issues and the state of her own health had also kept her from even seeing Booth so often. Actually she hadn't seen him after the hospital at all.

Booth had focused on his watch only for few seconds and tried to continue his way to the right court hall when he got surprised by someone almost bumping into him. He stared at Brennan who seemed to be even more surprised than him. Well, she hadn't even known Booth was in the same building so it was understandable that she was more surprised. Their faces were only few inches away from each other which made Brennan back up immediately as she let out the clumsy greeting. She had an awkward look on her face and Booth shared the same expression. He hadn't talked to Brennan for weeks and he wanted to ask so much from her but he knew it would be better not to push it. He didn't know what to say without doing something wrong. The fact that he was late from court didn't make it any easier. "Hi Bones." Booth grinned covering his awkward feeling. Brennan smiled slightly disregarding the fact that he had called her Bones, the nickname she hated. Booth was starting to think she was getting used to it already. "Going to court?" She asked with pretentiously breezy tone as she seemed to pull herself together. Booth nodded as an answer. "Going to see that an asshole gets what he deserves." He shrugged slightly keeping on his smile. "You?" Booth continued the small talk that seemed to be more like feeling out each other's feelings than talking. "No, I'm already done, just trying to get out of this sardine can." She answered perhaps a little too fast indicating she really did still feel slightly uncomfortable. An awkward silence landed between them. It was filled in by the noisy people crowding in the corridor. "Anyways, I need to go. I'm already late." Booth then broke the silence still wearing his grin. "Yeah, I need to go too." Brennan answered and gave a quick smile. They departed but after few steps Booth turned to look at Brennan who was at the entrance. "See you around!" Booth hollered at her making her turn. As a response she gave a lopsided grin before she pushed through the entrance door. Booth turned and quickly made his way to the court hall where he had already supposed to be over ten minutes ago.


	2. Sweat and Sand

**Past:**

Brennan was standing on the sandy ground keeping her eyes focused to the horizon. She stared right in front of her not glancing around. Her posture was straight, her other hand was resting on her side and the other hand was holding a strap that was attached to a military rifle. Brennan was standing straight with her legs squeezed firmly together, the rifle that rested against her back made her keep her posture. There were group of soldiers standing beside Brennan. Together they formed a sweating, tensed up line with serious and tired faces. "Now remember what I said. First crew, line up!" Brennan heard Sergeant Daniel Moskoff roar out his orders. A line of soldiers stepped forward; the first crew. With nervous but serious expressions they faced Moskoff and the mission to be preformed. Brennan saw how nervous the soldiers were and so did Moskoff who frowned with an unhappy look. He did not like cowardice but he seemed to decide to ignore it for he sent the men on their mission by firing his pistol. The men left running up the dune nearby. Not long till they disappeared behind it. Moskoff now directed his grumpy look to Brennan and the rest of the soldiers. "Second crew!" He called. Another line of soldiers stepped forward and so did Brennan who also belonged to the second crew. She stared at the dune feeling the concentration to the mission take over any other feelings. She was not nervous, only sweating she did was for the intense heat of the hot afternoon.

Moskoff fired his gun and next thing Brennan knew was that she was crossing the dune running right among the other soldiers hearing Moskoff prepare the third crew for a send-off. She was gasping and the salty sweat was stinging her eyes slightly. Brennan and the others threw themselves to the ground jumping down the dune. On the other side they faced their mission. Bullets and gunfire started to pour on them as they crawled in the sand trying to reach the closest shelter against the bullets. Their moves raised sand into the air and it made it more difficult for Brennan to see where she was going. Bullets hit to the ground right next to Brennan. _Shit!_ She dragged her body in the ground trying to disregard the dust making its way into her eyes and mouth. After few minutes of crawling the gunfire stopped. Everything was silent. All she could hear was the gasping of the tired soldiers with her own gasping on the top. She rolled on her back and lied on the sandy bed of the desert. "Ma'am." She suddenly heard someone say. She rose to sit and saw Moskoff's serious face. He had never called Brennan a private. Technically she really wasn't one, she wasn't in the army. Moskoff spoke to her with respect in his voice even though he didn't know her and even though she was there training under his guidance like any other soldier. "Got a call for you from the headquarters. Your practise is over for the day." He said offering his hand to help her up. Brennan grabbed his hand and he pulled her up "Thank you sir." She said wiping some of the sand off her clothes. She was still cursing about the useless, dark uniform as she headed to the headquarters wiping off the sweat from her palms to her trousers.

**Present:**

Brennan strolled along the walkway leading to the Jeffersonian and thought about her trial she had gone through. The court's decision was in her favour but one thing bothered her: The judge had made a wish that Brennan would go see a therapist. The wish made by a judge had sounded more like an order and Moskoff certainly had taken it as one. As soon as they had gotten out of the hall he and Black had immediately demanded her to go to therapy. Brennan didn't like the thought; she didn't like psychology and it wasn't exact science, that little fact didn't make her feel any less reluctant. Brennan opened the glass door of Jeffersonian Institute. It was a real heat wave in the city and her hair had glued to her scalp from the sweat. All the heat and sweating reminded her of the desert that she had faced more than once in her past. She entered the institute and was relieved from the effective air-conditioning; the air was much cooler. "Suffering from the heat wave Dr Brennan?" The security guard greeted her with a grin. Brennan nodded and continued her way to the lab area where her colleagues were buzzing around the work-tables of the forensic platform.

Angela Montenegro was carefully following Dr Jack Hodgins doing his job; 'digging the dirt'. Angela admired the amount of concentration Hodgins used to do his job. He listed the minerals mumbling and it was somehow soothing to Angela. He had a habit of talking to the evidence and it amused her. Her observation was interrupted by the sound of familiar steps echoing in the hall. Angela raised her look and saw Brennan enter the lab. Her hair was beautifully glowing in the sun light even though it was slightly flat from the sweating she had done. "Hey sweetie! You look like you would have slept with ten men in a row!" Angela greeted her with a grin. "It's the damn heat wave." Brennan answered muttering as she pushed her hair back from her face and ran her key card through the code lock with the other hand.

Somehow Angela felt weird around Brennan. After seeing her kill and after seeing her literally die Angela wasn't sure what she should say. She had gone to therapy couple of times after the incident and she had told Brennan about it. She had just noted that it probably was good for Angela and didn't seem to mind about it and this was a relief. She still couldn't help it that every time she looked at Brennan she remembered all the blood and the sounds of necks twisting. However, Angela was trying to cope with it and the therapy was actually helping, even though she was very awkward at first. Also she had had to go to a specific therapist for she would be talking about the incident at the Jeffersonian and the CIA had declared it as classified information so they had chosen the therapist. Angela stepped away from Hodgins' work desk and focused on Brennan. "So, how was the trial?" She asked from her. "You know I'm not allowed to discuss about it Ange. But as you can see I'm not in jail." Brennan answered taking a look at how Hodgins was progressing. Suddenly Dr Zach Addy rushed to them with a file rambling something incomprehensible. He was followed by Dr Camille Saroyan who was focused on her own papers. As Zach calmed himself he was able to talk more clearly getting the full attention of the whole crew. They had a new case.

**Past: **

"We need to circle around the most obvious routes. The trip will take us three days. We're only going to have one car and rest will travel by horses. Not many people are going to come with you so lack of space or horses won't be a problem." The army strategist, Floyd said running his fingers on the map that was laid on the table in front of Brennan. She never remembered the guy's real name but everyone kept on calling him Floyd and, so did Temperance. Floyd was a perfectly normal looking guy; he wasn't bad looking and he wasn't the best looking either. He was the kind of guy who would not be noticed in a crowd. Floyd stuck in the business he knew and didn't appreciate if someone poked their nose into his job if they really didn't know what they were talking about. Temperance didn't like it either. She knew how irritating it was so she always let Floyd do his job without bothering him. Floyd kept on pointing at the map showing different routes explaining his decisions on chosen routes.

Commander Joe Riff stood next to Temperance hovering over the map like a vulture searching for prey. His bald head was covered with a cap that shadowed his face. He was wearing a dark uniform like the other superiors in the headquarters and he was sweating more than anyone else. "You do know how to move in the desert, don't you?" He asked from Brennan. She glanced at the commander. "Apparently more than you do sir." She replied with a flat tone. Joe raised his look from the map frowning with surprised and slightly offended expression on his face. He clearly had not waited this kind of answer from Brennan; he did not expect anyone to dare to act snotty in front of a superior officer. She had not meant to be snotty but she realized she might have sounded like it. "These dark uniforms are very impractical in the desert area. They won't do any good. They will not make you blend in to the environment and they suck the light making it too hot to wear them." She decided it was better to explain her previous statement. Joe raised his eyebrows slightly but then returned his neutral expression. "I agree with you. Thought of it before but we just don't have such uniforms." He nodded to Brennan. "It will take a while to prepare for the journey; few weeks. Maybe we'll get better equipment by that time." Commander Riff said returning to talk about the mission ahead, the mission that included the reason why Brennan was brought into the operation.


	3. Death in the Sandbox

**Past: **

"We need to circle around the most obvious routes. The trip will take us three days. We're only going to have one car and rest will travel by horses. Not many people are going to come with you so lack of space or horses won't be a problem." The army strategist, Floyd said running his fingers on the map that was laid on the table in front of Brennan. She never remembered the guy's real name but everyone kept on calling him Floyd and, so did Temperance. Floyd was a perfectly normal looking guy; he wasn't bad looking and he wasn't the best looking either. He was the kind of guy who would not be noticed in a crowd. Floyd stuck in the business he knew and didn't appreciate if someone poked their nose into his job if they really didn't know what they were talking about. Temperance didn't like it either. She knew how irritating it was so she always let Floyd do his job without bothering him. Floyd kept on pointing at the map showing different routes explaining his decisions on chosen routes.

They were inside a large tent that was filled with maps, computers and different equipment. Commander Joe Riff stood next to Temperance hovering over the map like a vulture searching for prey. His bald head was covered with a cap that shadowed his face. He was wearing a dark uniform like the other superiors in the headquarters and he was sweating more than anyone else. "You do know how to move in the desert, don't you?" He asked from Brennan. She glanced at the commander. "Apparently more than you do sir." She replied with a flat tone. Joe raised his look from the map frowning with a surprised and slightly offended face. He clearly had not waited this kind of answer from Brennan; he did not expect anyone to dare to act snotty in front of a superior officer. She had not meant to be snotty but she realized she might have sounded like it. "These dark uniforms are very impractical in the desert area. They won't do any good. They will not make you blend in to the environment and they suck the light making it too hot to wear them." She decided it was better to explain her previous statement. Joe raised his eyebrows slightly but then returned his neutral expression. "I agree with you. Thought of it before but we just don't have such uniforms." He nodded to Brennan. "It will take a while to prepare for the journey; few weeks. Maybe we'll get better equipment by that time." Commander Riff said returning to talk about the mission ahead, the mission that included the reason why Brennan was brought into the operation.

**Present:**

Booth strolled out from the court hall building feeling satisfied that the guy he had arrested was put behind bars. It was a sunny weather, too hot but Booth was in a good mood. He went to a small ice cream stand that was across the street and bought a vanilla cone. He hadn't eaten ice cream since he had last time taken his son Parker to the carnival. The sugary taste of ice cream filled Booth's mouth and he immediately felt relief to the heat wave. This was the kind of day that made people crawl from their shabby holes that were also referred as apartments, just to get a cone of tasty, cold ice cream. _I bet Bones would like one too_. He surprised himself by suddenly thinking about Brennan. He had seen her earlier at the court house with one hell of a crew with her. If they had been there with her she had had one hell of a defence. Booth wondered why they had been there; especially sergeant Moskoff. He knew Brennan had been in trial, but the people she was accompanied with made Booth wonder what she was tangled into exactly. He walked on the street heading to his car. Suddenly his phone rang. He saw it was his boss.

Brennan circled around the examination table keeping her look firmly in the remains that were lying on the table of the forensic platform. The remains had been found from the Himalayas. It was well-preserved due to the fact that it had been covered by ice. Brennan looked at the x-rays taken from the remains. The remains were of a young male. Brennan saw from the x-rays that he had died of a head trauma. His skull was badly injured. Zach approached Brennan peering over her shoulder at the remains with curiosity sparkling in his eyes. Brennan gently examined the remains that were valuable and fragile. "He was badly beaten. I don't want to make presumptions but that is most likely what killed him. He didn't fall, that's for sure." She said when her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she heard someone use their key card. She raised her look and saw Booth enter the platform. Brennan raised her eyebrows as she noticed he was holding an ice cream. "Hey Bones!" He greeted with a grin on his face. There was a line of ice cream on his upper lip and Brennan couldn't stop staring at the F.B.I. agent who was holding a cone. Booth noticed her stare and then offered Brennan the cone. "Want some?" Brennan shook her head. "No thanks Booth." C'mon, have some! It tastes good!" He practically pushed the cone at her face. "No, Booth really." She raised her hand in front of her face like the ice cream would be the most terrifying thing on earth. "C'mon! Just a little. Try it!" Brennan opened her mouth to reject the offer but Booth saw this as an opportunity. He shoved some of the ice cream to her mouth. Brennan got surprised by this but she did like the taste. "Pretty good actually." She said as she got the ice cream down her throat. The not too sweet, smooth taste was great. Angela grinned at this fight about ice cream that she clearly thought was cute and little more than it just appeared to be. Brennan frowned slightly knowing what she was thinking. She was always making a match from Brennan and Booth.

"So, why are you here Booth? Or is this a social call?" Brennan asked raising her other eyebrow. She asked the question even though she knew Booth didn't do much social calls to the Jeffersonian lab for he didn't particularly like the place, but she didn't want to jump into conclusions, especially when it had something to do with human behaviour. Booth continued on eating his vanilla ice cream. He still hadn't noticed the white line on his upper lip and it continued to be a slightly bothering, yet amusing, eyesore for Brennan. "My boss called me. He told me to come here for we have a new case that he'll be bringing here himself." Booth replied taking a seat on one of the lab tables. Brennan frowned at this wanting to yell him not to sit on one and smack him, but he managed to pick up her frown. He quickly got up sitting on a chair instead raising his hands as a sign of surrender. "What kind of case?" Brennan folded her hands on her chest_. I do have other work to do too_. She finished off her sentence in her mind not wanting to show her slight irritation that Booth had created by entering the lab, interrupting her work and shoving an ice cream down her throat. _It did taste good though_.

"Okay just bring it here!" Brennan heard someone yell from the lobby. Soon a bunch of men entered the lab area. One of them was Booth's grumpy looking boss, deputy director Cullen, who wasn't too fond of Brennan. Cullen directed his look to Booth raising his eyebrows: He noticed the ice cream cone Booth had been holding. He also noticed the ice cream whiskers Booth had gotten. Cullen stared at his face clearly not knowing whether he should laugh or cry. "What?" Booth asked as the stare went on. "You have half of the ice cream on your face." Brennan answered saving Cullen from answering. Brennan took a tissue wiping the vanilla off his face. Booth clearly felt embarrassed as Brennan noted he had had ice cream on his face the whole time. She helpfully wiped it off and he then threw his cone to the nearest garbage can he saw. Soon, after Director Cullen had entered, few F.B.I. agents came to the lab and they were followed by some delivery men that were carrying large boxes. The men gently placed the boxes on the floor as Cullen stopped and signed them to do so. Then some more delivery men came in and more boxes were placed in the middle of the lab's lobby. Soon they were looking at twelve large, wooden boxes. As the delivery men left more men entered. One of them was Sergeant Daniel Moskoff who was followed by Harvey Black and agent Jason Hawk. This surprised Brennan and she couldn't even cover it from her face. She however managed to move her look back to director Cullen who was standing in front of the boxes looking like he would own the whole lab. Brennan was about to open her mouth to say something but someone beat her to it. "So, director Cullen. What is all this about?" Cam stepped asked stepping forward from behind Brennan where she had been peacefully doing her work. "Well we have a special delivery for Dr. Brennan here." He answered patting one of the wooden boxes. "This is Sergeant Daniel Moskoff and Sergeant Harvey Black. Agent Hawk you already know if I remember right." Cullen motioned at the three men. "And they all are from the CIA."

Booth looked at the three serious-looking men and greeted them with a nod when Cullen introduced him to the men. Brennan walked down from the forensic platform where they all were standing and walked to the three men. "Dan, what is this about?" Brennan looked at the tall man in the eyes standing so close to him that she looked like she would attack him in any second. Booth noticed that Deputy Director Cullen seemed surprised when Brennan called Moskoff by his nickname referring she knew him well. Moskoff's expression was uncomfortable like he wouldn't have liked to answer to her. "These are a delivery from Africa, considered as classified." He said with a hinting tone which Brennan seemed to pick up. Blood ran off from her face making her look so pale that she reminded Booth of a body from straight out of the morgue. Her expression was tensed and it looked like she wouldn't have breathed at all. She moved to the nearest crate pulling the cover open almost violently. Inside there was a metallic crate that's cover was closed with three locking mechanisms. She opened them with one quick, smooth hand movement and then carefully opened the cover. A massive cloud of dust rose to the air making Brennan cough few times. Booth carefully walked to her to see what was in the box. Brennan backed one step away from the box folding her hands on her chest, keeping her look still on the content of the box. Booth peered to the box waving his hand to get the dust from the air scatter. He saw a box full of sand and from the sand he could see pieces of a human skeleton peeking on the surface. He could see a part from the skull and hand; the rest was buried in the sand.

Brennan looked at the remains feeling like someone would have been strangling her. "We are going to work with the CIA on this, in full co-operation." She heard Cullen say. Booth answered but Brennan wasn't listening. It was like the rest of the world would have disappeared as she stared at the skeleton that was peeking from the sand like a child that had played in the sandbox for too long. So long that he had died in it. Brennan shook this morbid thought as she started to hear the surrounding sounds again. "Hello, earth to Brennan!" She heard and startled as she saw Angela standing next to her. Angela looked worried. "You okay sweetie?" She asked as she got her full attention. "I'm okay Ange." Brennan answered with a tone that made it sound like Angela's question would have been a senseless thing to ask.

Angela glanced at Brennan who walked back at the group of men who had now joined Booth and Cullen as if they would have wanted to give Brennan some privacy. Angela knew the tone Brennan had used, she knew it too well. It was the tone that she used either when she was lying she was okay or when she was excited and busy with her work, so busy that she didn't have the time to take care of herself properly. This time Angela knew she was lying for she didn't seem particularly happy about the crates that apparently contained remains. Angela took a look at the open box. The remains that were in that particular box were in good condition. She would be able to do facial reconstruction with no problem at all.

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**Sorry it took me a while. But…longer chapters…longer time to write. Also I've been once again busy with school. Now the exam week is coming again so, next chapter will _most likely_ take long to appear. Therefore; _patience_. And I hope you enjoy this chapter!**


	4. Wiping off the Sand

"So, what's with the litter boxes?" Booth asked fondling his big belt buckle. His psychiatrist, Dr. Gordon Wyatt, had told that his belt buckles were provocative and that he used them to draw attention to certain hip area and to feel more manly or something. Booth didn't care. He had his buckle and that's it. But he then noticed Brennan's frown on the litter box comment. He should have not said that. Brennan seemed to however let it go. With a strange glance she turned to look at Moskoff. _Wait, did she just?_ Booth realized something that made him think that Gordon had really been right. Brennan had glanced at his so called belt buckle zone! A wide, idiotic grin rose to his lips which made Cullen look slightly confused. "The '_litter boxes_' are from Africa and before we can talk more about it you all need to sign these contracts where you promise that you will not talk about this to anyone." General Black gave a clip of papers with various lines to sign. "Everyone who will be in this investigation will sign this. Except you Dr. Brennan" Booth looked at the paper and signed when he saw that his boss had already signed. One by one the squints signed even though they seemed slightly hesitant, especially Hodgins who was known for his conspiracy theories against the government. "Why Bones doesn't have to sign it?" Booth then asked folding his hands on his chest. "Who?" Moskoff looked confused of who he had referred to. "Brennan." He answered slightly awkwardly to confused Moskoff. "She has signed one long time ago which connects her to the project that is related to the investigation and considered as a part of it." Black answered taking the contract they had signed. "So, the mission here is..." Moskoff started clearing his throat. "Years ago there was a project called Grave Searcher. We had to go to the desert to find mass grave of some sort that would include some of our men. The previous operation that had located in the desert went awfully wrong for there had been a traitor among them. That person most likely killed them all but we don't know whether the killer is alive for we don't know who the bodies, we recently went to retrieve, are. We also had to eventually abort the operation where Dr. Brennan was with us. There were some...problems…Anyways, we didn't get the bodies with us that time but we now finally have them." Moskoff got a strange glance from Brennan when he was about to tell what the reason for aborting the mission had been. It made him alter his sentence.

**Past:**

"You are in special forces now! You are not going to have any breaks!" Brennan listened to Commander Riff roar as she ran up a dyne. The sand slipped down every time she took a step forward and it made it hard for her to run. She was gasping and sweating more than ever. She had done this for over an hour already and she was exhausted. The dune was huge but she was near the top already. Riff walked behind her yelling and roaring at her like a maniac. She had a perfectly good hearing and his yelling was annoying her more than anything. _What is it with that? Does it make him feel more of a man when he roars at everyone even though they are only few feet away?_ Riff had personally started to take care of most of Brennan's training, which was really a sign of respect, but she was also slightly annoyed by it. It wasn't necessary to roar so loud that she would lose her hearing. "Ok, enough!" He yelled from behind and Brennan immediately fell on the sand. Riff was one of the trainers of Special Forces and CIA agents. Other trainer with such experience was Moskoff but Riff had even more advanced training. It was early morning as Brennan shuffled after Commander Riff towards the nearest tent of the camp. She gulped down water from her bottle like she had never even seen water before. "We're gonna continue with combat practising in two hours." Riff said as Brennan entered the tent and he left for what ever he had to do.

"Whoa, Riff is really giving you hard time." Jasiri peeked inside the tent where he saw Brennan sitting on the ground leaning against a big crate. She appeared so tired that he felt sorry for her. He was going through special force training with Moskoff. It was the standard special force level training but Commander Riff was in whole other level. Jasiri entered the tent as the woman known as Dr. Brennan nodded slightly. He didn't know her first name even though they had talked several times. He had only heard people call her Dr. Brennan and never really bothered to ask her name. "This might sound like a stupid question but, I have no idea what's your name." He said fondling the strap of his rifle. A slight smile rose to Brennan's lips. "Well, technically that wasn't a question, it was more of a statement, but my name is Temperance Brennan." Smooth voice, with a hint of gravelling tone, answered.

Temperance leaned against the crate and smiled at Jasiri's awkward face. The smell of the dusty sand mixed with sweat floated in the air. Two hours till the battle training and she was tired. She was tired, but she knew it was for her best interest to learn everything Riff taught and remember everything that Moskoff had told. She would remember it all so well that she could do it all in her sleep. It would have to become her second nature.

**Present: **

CIA agents sat at the coffee table on the loft-like second floor where they occasionally glanced down at the forensic platform. "Are they just gonna sit there and just drink coffee and chat the whole day?" Camille asked and frowned as she looked up at the agents. Brennan carefully examined a skeleton in one of the crates that had been picked up on the examine table. "They are going to do that as long as we go through these remains." She calmly answered to frustrated Cam. Booth had left with his boss over an hour ago and the Jeffersonian was rather peaceful again allowing Brennan to do her job. Only thing scattering the peace was the occasional laughter of the CIA agents who were casually swapping stories and jokes with each other. Camille was seemingly frustrated and Brennan understood why. She didn't have much to do as she was a pathologist and couldn't do much with badly decomposed bodies or bare bones. Brennan ran her fingers on the surface of the skull that was partially covered with sand. Gently she removed the sand and noticed she could pick the skull up without doing any harm to the remains. She picked it up and discovered that it wasn't damaged. She would have to take a closer look at it but now it was more important to get the identity of the body. "Ange!" Brennan called and in few seconds Angela was there ready to do facial reconstruction. Brennan gave her the skull and focused on the rest of the remains.

Cam sat down on an office chair letting out a deep sigh. She watched Dr. Brennan do her job. She did her job like she would have never fought against those gunmen that had barged into Jeffersonian. It seemed so strange to Cam that Brennan saved their lives killing four people in the process and now she acted like it would've not happened. They had never spoken about it. Camille had only once paid a visit at the hospital when Brennan had been there. She had gone there with Zach and Hodgins and she vividly remembered Brennan's bruised face and wheezy breath. Suddenly Brennan stopped. It looked like she would have realized something very important. For a moment she stood still and Cam almost held her breath. "What?" She finally asked as Brennan started to move again. She dug the sand and then stopped again. She moved to another crate that was on the floor and dug some of the sand. She quickened her pace as she moved to another crate wiping off the sand on the remains. Crate after crate she did the same. Camille was staring to get agitated by this. "What is it?" She repeated the question as Brennan had stopped after going through most of the boxes. Brennan raised her look and her face was very serious. "These skeletons don't have clothes." She answered as if it was crucial. "So?" Cam said folding her hands on her chest like she would be a stubborn 5-year-old. "These remains are not _old_ enough to have _no_ traces of fibre. These remains should have whole uniforms on them. But they don't." Brennan explained with brightened eyes. "So, they were not clothed?" Camille tried to follow Brennan's run of thoughts. "Exactly!" She grinned and suddenly turned rushing towards the stairs and her office leaving Cam confused about the meaning of the lack of clothing.

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**Okay, Exam week is over and I'm back in the game! Enjoy!**


	5. PMS And Ignorance

"You know I'm not following." A statement broke the silence that had lasted for merely ten seconds but had felt too long. Temperance threw a glance at Booth who had spoken out these words with discontent reflecting from his expression. "You've got to be kidding me." Harvey Black sighed burying his face to his seemingly sweaty palms. He ran his fingers through his dark blonde hair making it appear messier than it had been after trying to desperately nap on the hard lounge couch. "Why would I be kidding about this? Do I sound like I'm kidding? Does this make you laugh?" Brennan asked appearing her blunt self. How would she know if she sounded funny? Her sense of humour was limited and very different from the rest of the population as Booth had once pointed out. She still thought 'hay is for horses'-joke was a clever one, and that fact didn't seem to impress anyone. Humour was an odd thing. It was like a whole different language to her. "It's a saying Bones, a saying." Booth patted her back and she leered at him coldly, not appreciating the gesture. Moskoff shook his head disappointed. "So tell me again, how does the lack of clothing on skeletons say it was one of your own who killed the whole damn group of trained soldiers?" Booth then asked frustrated as no one was yet telling anything. They all seemed to know something that was supposed to be obvious. But Booth didn't get it and that annoyed him. It was like there had been a secret club he wasn't allowed into. "I'd like to know that too." Camille threw in as if just to let know she was still there, alive and breathing. Brennan was not going to explain she was not the best at it, besides she'd rather drop the topic completely when she was around her colleagues at the Jeffersonian.

"Well," Moskoff started scratching his moustache. "When we were in training, we had a seminar dealing with certain types of body disposal methods. The local terrorists—" He continued. "Local drifted freedom fighters." Brennan cut in objecting the use of the terrorist term in this context. Moskoff dismissed this comment and continued. "The local…rioters took off the clothing of the victims because this way it would be harder to identify which side the bodies belonged to and would take long to find it out. Now when they would decompose to the point where they are just bare skeletons, well obviously it would be a big operation to go through them all finding out their identity. Especially since they were all buried to one huge grave. To a mass grave." Booth's face now lit up as he got the idea but then he looked confused again. "But you said locals. How do you know it was one of the soldiers not the locals?" He asked thinking he must have been clever to notice this. He was already mentally congratulated himself for the clever point. "Because they made an error in the seminar. Obviously it wasn't even taught by a real professional. The locals in that area do not do that. They just burn the remains and bury them." Brennan stated before Moskoff could even open his mouth. Booth's mental congratulations were made out of place and he was back feeling like he was stupid. "And finding out who did it, well it's complicated as Dr. Brennan here explained me a while ago. We'd have to go through all the files relating to the case, not to mention the remains, and find out who's missing." He shrugged with a helpless look on his face. "It will be hard since we do not know if there were any other mass graves in the area and if some of the soldiers were in a different grave. And the killer might have died too so it just makes things even more complicated. But we just have to get started I guess." Temperance stated with a steady tone as if this would be like any other case. But it wasn't and she knew it.

It had been two days since they had started on examining the massive amount of remains. Temperance had been working on bones the whole day so far and his neck was starting to feel stiff. Not to mention she wished to get some fresh air after all the dust she had been breathing while moving the sand boxes around. Booth was rambling outside the door of the changing room of Jeffersonian. Brennan was taking time off from staring down and she was getting rid of her shirt that had been smudged, ironically not at work where she deals with many things worse than normal dirt, but she had gotten a coffee stain on it. "So then he called me and apparently I now have to take him in for couple of days. Now I'd get it if he was here just on vacation but…" Booth talked but he had no idea Brennan was not listening at all. She was rolling memories in her head like an old film again. As she was putting on a new shirt she stopped to look at herself from the full body mirror in front of her. Temperance looked at the fresh scars on her side and stomach. They were still slightly red and reminded her of the intense pain the wounds had once caused. She lowered her shirt and studied her own face from the reflection. Her eyes were like they always were. They gave up nothing. They didn't announce how she was hurting inside because of her past. And it was good. It was good that no one knew. She sighed, still hearing Booth ramble on about something. Brennan stepped out and frowned as Booth was still explaining something and motioning with his hands along the way. He almost hit her but she managed to duck. "So let's go?" Booth asked rubbing his hands together like he was anxious to get somewhere. Brennan now looked at him confused about what he was talking about. "Where?" She asked stopping on her heels. "To get those troop files from feds and then to pick up my cousin. Did you listen to me at all?" Booth frowned folding his hands on his chest like a stubborn five-year-old. Brennan just stared like she had no idea why he was getting irritated.

After bickering the whole way to the car Temperance was already full of Booth and his mood swings. "You know you're like a guy with PMS when you're like this." She said as they drove to the busy street. "What?!" He tried to look at Brennan with his annoyed stare at the same time as he tried to keep an eye on the road. He saw Brennan get tensed as she got worried over his driving but she didn't say anything. Sometimes these small comments threw Booth's mind off the tracks. It was always hard to determine if she was insulting him on purpose or making an actual scientific remark, a remark that offended him. Brennan was already ignoring him and focused on looking outside. Booth snorted as he couldn't come up with a proper objection. He hated when he could never win with her.

After a while of driving they pulled over at the airport and Booth was still annoyed. "Yeah well, men don't have PMS!" He finally snapped and Brennan looked at him like he was nuts. "What?" It had taken him so long to come up with something to say that she had already forgotten the whole thing. Booth muttered something incomprehensible making Brennan raise her brows slightly. Booth tapped the steering wheel like he was anxious and Brennan felt slightly helpless now. She had said something to make him pout and sometimes it made her uncomfortable too. But then just as Brennan was about to say sorry Booth seemed to get alerted. "There's Jack!" He said staring at the airport doors. "Who?" This got him to glance at Temperance with irritation. "My cousin!" She was about to throw a comment to defend herself but then someone knocked on the car window. A smirking face of a young guy was practically pressed against the window on Booth's side. He had dark hair and slight stubble. Temperance noted his structure and how he did remind her of Booth a bit, though his style was far from her partner's. The man was wearing jeans and a check shirt looking like a casual version of Booth. Jack backed up a step as Booth rolled down the window.

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so people have been whining me to continue my story...and I've been saying I will. Sorry for the long pause of no updates. I got lazy and when my granny died I just didn't feel like writing too much. Plus I've been relieving my creativity with other methods and when I finally would have had egarness to write...I was all out of inspiration lol. So this is slightly shorter than the other pharagraphs so far but I posted this one already just to show you I have not left you! And I will post! I will continue this story all the way to the bitter (or sweet) end!

Yes, your nagging worked. I want to thank you for asking me to continue. I want to thank you from reading this and commenting.


	6. Silence Hurts

Jack sure knew how to yapp. Brennan was ready to shut him up as she started to feel like she couldn't hear her own thoughts anymore. The man spat out pop cultural references like it was the language of its own. Brennan had newer had so many "I don't know what that means" moments and the guy had started to look at her like she was from another world. Fine, one reason for the staring might have been that she was a woman. He did like to look at her inches down from her eyes. Typical male behaviour Angela would say but Brennan had never noticed it before when she had dealt with the opposite sex in a casual manner. So what this meant was that Jack wasn't subtle. He may as well buy binoculars and use them to stare at her. And at the same time the man yapped.

"So that's why I'm here. The comic con is one of the biggest ones this year!" Jack explained with excitement reflecting from his voice. _Comic con?_ Yes, Brennan did not know what that was but she decided to stay silent. As long as Jack wouldn't address her he wouldn't stare at her breasts nor would she have to reply to him. Booth threw a glance at her and then at Jack who again peered at Brennan. Booth had apparently picked up the drooling too. "Stop staring at my partner's breasts!" He snapped and Jack raised his hands in the air. "I'm a guy! I can't help myself!" Booth gave him the evil eye that he gave every time someone was close to really annoy him. Jack snorted and sat back on the backseat. Brennan had to admit she felt relieved; the guy had stared at her between every few seconds since Booth had introduced her. Sure he wasn't a bad guy. He was more like a comic reading young adult. Innocent and, well, what kids would call _lame_. But he seemed to think he was quite the ladies man. _Maybe it runs in the family._ She automatically went to thinking about Booth.

Brennan drummed her fingers against her thigh as they pulled over in front of the FBI building. The thing always looked like a cold concrete box to her. Ridiculously small windows and a box-like shape. The architect sure hadn't bothered too much. It truly looked so massive that it could swallow the lives of people entering it. Agents would live for their work, for the building, criminals would lose their lives for that building. Anyone entering that building would not return as same the person they were. One way or another the grey box would meddle into their lives. Booth ran inside, leaving Brennan sit in silence with the cousin who had managed to pout for ten minutes without talking. Now the silence seemed to make him uncomfortable. He let out a sigh. Few seconds passed and he clicked his tongue. Another pause. Deep sigh. Then he started drumming his fingers. Some people just couldn't handle the silence. Brennan would have preferred the silence over those annoying little sounds he made. She was used to silence. It gave her an opportunity to think and to focus. And if she felt like the silence was getting annoying she would listen to some of her CDs or hum Lauper's songs or something like that. Brennan tried to meditate and block the sounds Jack made. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She slowly zoned herself out, imagining she was somewhere else. She was looking at a skeleton lying on the lab table. It was one of her cases. Amazing how much detail she could recall of it. She envisioned herself picking up the skull and taking a closer look at the teeth. There were some abnormalities in them.

Booth trotted back with the file hoping Brennan hadn't snapped at Jack and killed him while he was gone. She could well at least beat the hell out of the dear cousin. Bones was just slightly unpredictable that way. It was amazing how she could rationalize things. She could well do her brainy thing and decide that punching Jack would be a wise thing to do. Sometimes Booth had hard time understanding how rational the woman could be. Her mind seemed so strong. It moved on the track Booth would rarely reach, if ever. Even if he reached it, he would question if he was truly there. However, Booth did believe Brennan 'sunk' to his mind tracks some time to time. That's when she showed true emotion and even if she didn't show it, he had the hunch that she did feel things he believed she did. It was just a part of human nature, whether the _Dr Smart And Objective_ wanted it or not. Booth opened the car door and got in. He adjusted his seat belt and threw a glance at his partner on the seat beside him. He noticed Brennan had closed her eyes but she sure wasn't sleeping. She was sitting up straight. For a moment he felt confused. "Bones?" No reaction. Jack leaned forward from the back seat and waved his hand in front of her face. "She's been quiet for a long while." He stated. "Hey." Booth tried again, not knowing whether to feel annoyed, confused or worried. The woman seemed to be completely zoned out. Now that was rare from her. "Bones!" He tried again. "Don't call me Bones." She suddenly said raising her finger in the air, startling Booth. That was probably the most worn sentence out of her mouth but she had started to do it less. Maybe she was getting used to him calling her that. Maybe she was ignoring his words most of the time.

Brennan was still looking at the skeleton in her mind but when Booth was starting to get all attention craving, she opened her eyes and looked at him. The former sniper handed her a file carefully like she would have been a cobra about to strike at him. He sure had dropped her back to reality but he didn't seem to have much to say so she just opened the file, flipping the pages casually. She was familiar with the list of her own division but when it came to the other groups she started to slow down and look at them closer. She came across a picture of her and Jasiri. The very same picture that Pickering had found. She was smiling with blood stains on her clothes. She leaned back on her seat feeling safe, sitting next to Booth as he drove calmly in the afternoon traffic. For a while she observed the traffic surrounding them. Jack had calmed down and was focused on some magazine he had with him. Booth was focusing on driving. After few seconds of feeling serenity Brennan reluctantly shifted her eyes back to the file where she again faced the picture of her and Jasiri. She noticed Booth glare at the picture while trying to also focus on the traffic. She felt an urge to tear that picture out of the file but of course she didn't. She sat there feeling like she was strangling from the inside. Brennan reached for a button and opened the car window just slightly as if to catch air better.

After a while of driving the traffic got worse. They stopped on a red light and there was dozens of cars in line before them. They could barely spot the traffic lights in the distance. For five minutes the line didn't move and Booth was starting to get slightly restless, or just plain bored. He then dared to properly look at the page Brennan was still holding open. "What's going on in that picture?" It had clearly taken him a while to pick up his courage to ask that. Brennan didn't answer for a few seconds which made Booth seem a bit awkward. Brennan couldn't get any words out of her mouth. She was just squeezing the open file with her seemingly delicate fingers. Jack was there, she couldn't say anything about it even if she wanted. But she didn't know if she did want to do that. The simple question had gotten Brennan now feel like she was torn in half. Mixed feelings filled her mind. She never raised her look from the file. She didn't look at Booth when he asked his question, she just couldn't. Something made her feel stuck in the position she was at that moment.

Booth looked at Brennan feeling odd about it now. Maybe he shouldn't have asked anything. His partner seemed so tensed now. She didn't look at him, she didn't say anything, and he could barely spot her breathing. He regretted asking anything but it was something he had wanted to know for a long time. He wanted to know what had happened, what was the thing that got her so tensed. He just wanted to know and he couldn't help it. He felt connected to this woman after being through so many things with her. It was just odd that she had something that she felt—well he didn't know what she felt but it clearly was something she didn't want to talk about. Suddenly Brennan looked up. But not at Booth. She stared through the windshield and slowly closed the file. Silently she then seemed to hesitate but instead of saying anything she turned to look out the passenger window, she turned to look away from him. Rarely did Booth feel this rejected, yet again Jack was there but Brennan didn't say_ anything_. He didn't hear the words "I'll tell you later" or anything resembling that. It was a cold rejection of the question. He felt he was close to Brennan and usually she did give him something. At least she would give some sort of sentence to avoid a question she didn't want to answer but she never completely shut down one. With avoidance Booth often felt like she would tell him when she was ready but something about this one felt different. She had turned to look away, in silence. He was surprised how much this gesture hurt him. He wouldn't have liked to admit it but it sure did hurt him. He turned to look at the road as the line started to move. Jack was still focused on his magazine and didn't pay much attention to what had just happened between the crime-solving-duo.

Angela observed Booth. His back looked strong as a brick wall. He was standing there, watching Brennan examine skeletons. He was like a statue, with a posture that just told Angela he was frustrated. "I wonder what happened that made them so—icky." She muttered silently to Camille who entered the scene and stopped right next to her. "_Icky_?" She asked confused about the choice of word. "Yeah. _Icky_. Brennan acts like Booth has cooties, staying at least ten feet away from him and Booth just stalks her there like he doesn't know what to do." Angela shrugged motioning at Booth's back with her hand. Cam looked at him. They couldn't see his face but, yes, he did seem out of ideas and mad about it. She raised her brows. "I have no idea. Sometimes those two are just a big puzzle to me. They are like a _kid's_ puzzle that I _still_ can't solve." Angela nodded at this. "Hey who's that guy?" She pointed at the man who strolled to Booth. Cam frowned. "Oh that's his cousin Jack. Booth told me he'd hang around with him the day. He doesn't dare to leave him alone at his place. Mentioned something about an incident that had occurred six years ago. It apparently involved paint, fire and his apartment. He didn't tell me anything else about it." She replied and turned to head back to her office as there was nothing for her to do there. Angela remained and she decided to go confront Booth about his ridiculous stalking.

Booth's expression was like a dark cloud coming to ruin the sunny day. Brennan had started to avoid him though she pretended she wasn't avoiding. It was the game of cat and mouse again. Fine, it sort of was his fault. He had started it by asking her something she really didn't want to talk about. Now he'd guess she was avoiding him so she wouldn't have to answer to that question. She hoped he would forget it, without realizing that she was in fact making the question more memorable with her behaviour. Jack came to him exchanging a few words with him. Booth didn't really listen but registered him leave, heading somewhere else. The next visitor he did not see coming. "You gonna stand there all day? 'Cause I know Brennan can keep that up all day, even all night. She's doing her job. You well know how she can glue into that world." A soft female voice spoke. Booth knew it was Angela without even looking at the direction of the voice. He sighed turning to her. "Yeah well I can glue into this place too!" A crooked smile rose to Angela's lips. "Oh yeah? _Really_?" She asked and fell silent. Booth's expression changed. It was clear he would answer _no_ so he just turned to look at Brennan work around the skeleton.

Angela tilted her head. "Okay, what did you do to get her like this?" She asked folding her hands on her chest, leaning against the nearest desk. Booth seemed reluctant to tell anything but after she stared at him for a while he cracked. "I just asked her a question." He snorted. "I see. A question she didn't want to answer?" Booth didn't reply but it was obvious she had hit the right spot. "You know she'll tell you when she's ready." She said like she was stating the obvious. "I'm not so sure this time." Booth sighed with frustration and anger dipped in something that looked like hurt feelings. Angela was now confused. This was something slightly new. Booth seemed serious about it. His expression was gloomy. "I'm gonna go get some coffee." He worded out and walked away with his shoulders slightly hunched down. _Brennan, now you've done it. Poor knight in shining armour._ Brennan had apparently no idea how her avoidance could sometimes cause more destruction than actual fighting. In the case of the "_Scully_" and "_Mulder_" bickering was even a better option than anything else. It's how they did things. They argued like an old married couple. Now they weren't arguing, Brennan was avoiding and Booth was feeling like he was pushed away. This had Angela worried. She would have to talk to Brennan. They would come around.

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_"The moment you were all waiting for. I finally finished writing the 6th chapter. Now that my vacation started and some people had nicely asked me to continue and all...well I found the inspiration to go on again. I do have all intentions to finish this story. Dunno when but dammit I'm gonna finish it. So fear not. I do, however appreciate your wonderful comments. They always cheer me up and encourage to continue." - Tempy_


	7. Silence Is Breaking?

Angela silently entered the lab room with a smooth cat-like movement. She observed Brennan study a skeleton with her sharp hawk eyes. It was like nothing else had existed around her. She was in her own world. Sometimes Angela wondered what it was like. Then she flinched as she had an image of something dark, strangled by sorrow and years of hurt. Brennan's sharp, serious, facial features were highlighted by the white light glowing from the examination table. She looked like one of the dead that she spent her life studying. Be with the dead, you_ are_ dead. Sure everyone dies eventually, despite all that freezing bodies stuff. But when one spends so much time with dead you might end up questioning if they are alive anymore either. Angela was determined to bring some life to her dear friend. "So," she started with her soft voice, "what did you do to make Booth so miserable? Or better yet, what _didn't_ you do?" She asked from the woman of science. Brennan flinched slightly after hearing the question and realizing the presence of another woman but still focused on the bones. "It's nothing." The reply was silent and short. Angela knew Brennan had a hunch that her friend had talked to Booth. "It's something," Angela stared Brennan as if to gain her attention by using pure power of thought, "he feels pretty hurt about it." Brennan picked up a rib bone, still not focusing on her friend. Finally she threw Angela a glance with the corner of her eye. "He actually said he was hurt?" She asked with a suspicious tone. "Well…no. But it was pretty obvious the man is miserable." Angela replied. To her surprise she lost the attention of the PhD. "Angela. That's an assessment based on psychological hunches. It's just guessing." Brennan stated and laid down the bone. "Besides, his ego should be able to stand me not sharing everything with him." Angela's brows shot up. "Sweetie, he's your partner. After everything you've been through, don't you think it's reasonable for him to expect a bit more than that from you? He feels like you don't trust him. " Brennan was silent for a second. Then she straightened her back and directed her sharp eyes to Angela. Full attention had been successfully gained. "That's right," Brennan stated taking her latex gloves off, throwing them to the disposal can, "I don't trust him. It is not rational to share everything with someone." She said like it was a general fact. Angela saw her point but still she wasn't happy about her stand. "Even me?" She asked folding her hands on her chest as if to challenge the woman's opinion. "Well...yes." Angela shook her head at the reply. She knew Brennan didn't mean to hurt her feelings but if she didn't know her so well Angela would have gotten very offended. "Honey, we need to work on your social skills." Now it was Brennan's turn to look baffled. Slowly she returned to her work, moving on to the computer next to the table. Angela rolled her eyes at this.

"Okay, that's it…I'm doing this because I love you," Angela threw her hand in the air indicating she had had it. Brennan looked at her again with a confused expression. Before she could ask what she meant, Angela interrupted her with a loud yell. "Booth! Come here!" Her voice cut the evident silence, making Brennan look like a deer sensing danger. "What are you doing Ange?" She clearly preferred avoiding Booth. Soon the hunky FBI guy trotted in. "What? What's wrong?" He asked looking like he was ready for action. "You two are going to spend some time together! Go get some ice cream or something!" Angela declared making Booth look even more confused than earlier. "What why?" Booth glanced from Brennan to Angela, his eyes flashing with anxiety. "Ange I have work to do" Brennan objected and took a step towards the skeleton on the examination table. "Nuh huh!" Angela made a quick move and grabbed a finger bone from the table and then dangled it above a shredder. "One step towards the skeleton and I will drop this!" Brennan didn't seem to take it serious. "Ange—"She started. "Nuh-huh!" Angela interrupted her, making sure the doctorate knew she was serious. She lowered the bone and switched the shredder on. "No no no! Okay okay! I will spend time with Booth!" Brennan made a leap at her with eyes widened from fear of losing her precious bone. Angela handed it to her and she laid it back on its place under the bright light. Booth had observed this all in silence. "Coffee?" He finally spoke. Brennan glared at her. Angela's work had been done. She left the room and patted Booth's shoulder as if to say you're welcome. Booth just wasn't sure if this had been the best way to do it. Brennan threw a glance at him that he didn't know if it was angry or just annoyed. _Oh boy…_

Booth watched Brennan squeeze the warm brown paper cup in her hands. So far their discussions had been rather superficial. They were sitting on one of the benches in the garden in front of The Jeffersonian building. The glassy part of the roof reflected the light of the setting sun, throwing golden rays everywhere, making shadows appear long. Brennan pushed back her dark hair that was glowing in the sunlight. Her expression was serious as usual. He studied her eyes that were focused on the cup of coffee. There was often sadness in those eyes. It made Booth feel helpless sometimes. He wanted to help and listen to her but she never spoke about things unless it was necessary. "So, how's the case going?" Booth asked, referring to the stack of bodies from the desert. "Fine." She replied and silence fell between them. Brennan wasn't much of a talker. Small talk clearly wasn't her expertise. Booth was about to make a second attempt when Brennan suddenly cut him off. "I don't want to talk about the blood. I don't want to talk about what happened in there. I want you to understand that." Her voice was tired like life had drained her energy. Booth looked at her feeling like his heart had jumped all the way to his throat just to make it hard for him to swallow. "It's ok, Bones." He then said silently. "Thanks." She said and got up from the bench. She turned him her back and headed towards the institute. Booth felt a slight sting of worry as he thought she'd some day snap because of her suppressed emotions. But it was her way of dealing things. Booth liked to eventually somehow express his emotions…at least when he was alone, whether it was banging his head against the table, or what not, crying. He had the feeling that Brennan did no such thing.

Back at the lab Brennan took a seat at her office, leaning back on the soft couch she had there. She slowly closed her eyes and listened to her heart beat steadily as she took deep breaths. The coffee cup Booth had bought her was on the edge of her desk, still steaming warmth. She could smell it. She heard distant voices of the lab workers downstairs. Her mind drifted and she could see images of her cases flash by. Brennan flinched slightly as the memories started to change. Now she was facing the desert again. Blood. She could hear someone cough as the blood filled their lungs and throat. "Brennan!" She heard someone scream and she startled, opening her eyes. Booth was at the door holding the file they had gotten earlier of the troops on the mission. His cousin was standing behind him and he waved at her before he left, heading downstairs. "Jack saw one of the presumed dead alive and walking!" The FBI agent declared with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas day. She blinked. "What? You sure?" She was suspicious. Let's just say she didn't immediately trust at someone who had spent an hour staring at her bosom. "It's the best we've got." He shrugged. He was right. It was the bets they got so far. "Well come on. Let's go." He nodded towards the exit. "Where?" She was confused; he knew where the guy was? "Jack saw him coming out from a comic book store. They might have his name or something we could use. Up up up!" Booth explained trying to get the good doctor to get up. "Ok, ok, I'm coming. You repeating things don't make things any more efficient." She got up following him as he was out the office already, heading for the stairs. "Well I got you up pretty fast."


End file.
